Twas the Night Before
by OldMondlerLover
Summary: Just a couple of conversations on the eve of a wedding...


"So, your last night as a single man. Again," Chandler deadpanned with a grin. "Did it meet your expectations? Did it?"

Mike shrugged on his coat and patted Ross on the back, throwing his beer bottle into the recycling bin in Ross and Rachel's kitchen. He smiled at Chandler, who grinned back at him.

Ross smirked and handed Chandler a towel to dry the chips and salsa bowl he'd just washed at the sink.

"It beat the Hut," he grinned, looking sideways at Chandler.

Chandler laughed.

"Dude, anything beats the Hut…"

"The Hut?" Mike asked.

"Yeah," Ross said as Chandler handed him the dry bowl and Ross rearranged the baby bottles in the kitchen cabinet to put it away. "When I married Carol my bachelor party was at Pizza Hut, courtesy of my _best friend_ here."

Mike chuckled then shrugged. "I guess a guys' night here with a Rangers win on the road beats the Hut."

"You know what woulda beat that?" said a disappointed Joey, bringing the last of the beer bottles into the kitchen. "Strippers!"

Ross smiled and shook his head.

"Dude," he said, drying his hands and turning to face Joey. "It wouldn't be my last night as a single man if we'd had strippers here, if you know what I mean…"

"And I'd be single again…" Chandler chimed in as Mike nodded.

"Yeah, but wouldn't it have been great to have strippers?" Joey said dreamily, looking off into the distance as some apparently imaginary pole dancers. The rest of the guys looked in the same direction, lost in their own thoughts for a moment.

Then Mike cleared his throat.

"I, uh, better get going," he said, moving toward the living room. "Told the sitter I'd be home around 11."

Ross turned off the kitchen light and all four guys walked into the living room. They all gave Mike a lame, cool-guy handshake.

"See you tomorrow," Mike said as he moved toward the door.

"Yeah, me, too," Joey said, grabbing his coat. "I'll walk out with ya, Mike."

"Joey, aren't you supposed to go back to Westchester with me?" Chandler asked. Joey, who lived in LA now, was staying at Monica and Chandler's for Ross and Rachel's wedding.

"Yeah, um…but I…you know. It's a bachelor party! There are supposed to be strippers!" he whined.

"Joe…"

"Oh, come on, Joey…"

"Listen, you're all married with babies and I'm not, so…" he said, then added emphatically. "I gotta take one for the team!"

Chandler put up his hands and shook his head.

"Fine, go," Chandler said. "But call Monica - you aren't coming back to crash at my house at 3 a.m."

"Yeah, if you need to crash somewhere just come back here," Ross said, grabbing a spare key out of a drawer by the door. "I don't want you showing up late for _my_ wedding!"

Joey smiled.

"Don't worry," he said, giving Ross a hug and taking the key. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, man."

Ross patted him on the shoulder and waved to Mike as the two left the apartment. He closed the door behind him and saw Chandler grabbing his jacket. He cleared his throat.

"Hey, listen you want…ah, another beer?"

Chandler glanced at his watch. He was tired. He'd been up with Erica at 5 a.m. Ever since he and Monica's 2-and-a-half year olds had learned they could pee-pee on the potty they were awake for the day at the first bladder call of the morning. Then he'd dropped them both off at daycare, gone into work and barely made it out in time to meet the guys at the restaurant for dinner.

He looked back at Ross, who suddenly had a puppy dog look on his face. He obviously didn't want him to leave.

"Uh…sure," he said, tossing his jacket back on the seat on the other side of the room and sitting down on the couch again.

Ross disappeared for just a moment then came back and handed Chandler the beer.

He sat down next to him and looked down into the bottle, before taking a long swig.

Chandler took a sip and observed Ross closely. His demeanor had changed from a relaxed night with the guys to dead serious in the space of about a minute.

"What's up, man?" Chandler asked, genuinely concerned.

Ross looked away for a moment, then looked back at Chandler.

Chandler's eyes widened in surprise at the serious look on Ross's face.

"Don't tell me you have cold feet?"

"I guess," Ross said, shaking his head. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Oh, come on," Chandler said, setting his beer down and turning to Ross, somewhat exasperated. "This is you and Rachel. This is the way it's supposed to be. You have Emma, now you have Luke. I mean, you're meant to be! This is how it's supposed to happen. You know that."

"Do I?" Ross asked, looking sharply at him. "Do I know that? God, ya know, I thought I knew that before, ya know. I've been down this road a few times…"

"But this is Rachel…"

"Even with Rachel…"

"What? The wedding in Vegas? Seriously, Ross, that wasn't real," Chandler said. "Look, you love her, she loves you, you're a family. She stayed for you…"

"Yeah, I know, I know…"

"Then what is it? What's the problem?!"

Ross looked at Chandler. Here he was, ready to marry the woman he'd dreamed of marrying for almost his entire life and he was scared to death. And it wasn't because he didn't love her, or she didn't love him, it just always seemed to be a…struggle. It just wasn't…

"Easy," he said quietly. "It's not easy. It's not like…"

When he didn't continue, Chandler was really confused.

"What?" Chandler asked, finally. "It's not like what?"

Ross turned and looked at his brother-in-law.

"It's not like you and Monica," he said.

###

"It's fine, Joey," Monica said, glancing at Phoebe and Rachel in amusement. "Now Chandler won't have to sleep on the couch."

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Yes, go…have fun," she said. "Bye."

"No strippers at the party, huh?" Rachel said, tongue-in-cheek.

"Nope," Monica giggled, joining them on the couch again, keeping one ear out for the pitter patter of little feet. She hoped the phone hadn't awakened any little people upstairs. "They really just watched hockey. You can sleep in Joey's room, Rach. He's crashing at your place…if he strikes out, I guess. Mike's on his way home, Pheebs."

"Good," she nodded. "We told the sitter 11. Nadia's been teething. I'm sure she's over her cuteness by now with all the screaming."

Both Monica and Rachel squished up their noses.

"God, I hate that," Rachel said, taking a sip of her drink. "That was Luke two months ago."

Monica nodded. "It's just awful, for you and for them."

Both of her friends nodded and Monica had to laugh.

"From strippers to teething in one breath," she said. "Are we moms now or what?"

Both Rachel and Phoebe smiled and nodded in agreement.

"You're Mother's ring is really beautiful," Rachel said, looking at Monica's right hand. They'd ooh'd and ahh'd over it earlier in the evening, but the ring had caught Rachel's eye again in the glow of the table lamp.

"Thanks," Monica smiled, running her fingers over the stones. "I love it."

Out of the blue, Phoebe started to giggle.

"Do you guys remember when we didn't even have a 'pleh'?" Phoebe said. Monica and Rachel looked at her, confused.

"You know…we didn't know what we were doing with our lives, remember?" Phoebe said, turning to Rachel. "You were working at the coffee house and George had ordered the pizza…"

"George?" Monica said, still confused.

"George Stephanpoulos?"

"Oh my God," Monica said, finally remembering. "That was like a million years ago!"

"Ross was already in love with you," Phoebe said pointing to Rachel, then she turned to Monica. "And you and Chandler weren't even a glint in each other's eye back then."

"I don't know about that," Rachel said, nudging Monica with her elbow. "There was always a little somethin', somethin' there."

"Oh, there was not," Monica said, blushing a little, though honestly, in retrospect, she thought there probably always had been - ever since that first Thanksgiving.

"Anyway, now here we are, all manned and babied up, drinking margaritas on another Friday night," Phoebe said, raising her glass. "That deserves another toast, Ladies."

And the phone rang, again, as they clinked their glasses together.

Monica answered it and quickly pulled the receiver away from her ear.

"It's Mike…and Nadia," she said, handing the phone to Phoebe, who disappeared into the kitchen.

Rachel sighed heavily and Monica looked over at her, expecting to see a relaxed look on her face. Instead she saw a sad one.

She frowned.

"Everything OK, Rach?"

"Hum?" she asked, coming out of her reverie and looking at Monica. "Oh, yeah, yeah, sure."

Monica was going to inquire again when Phoebe came back into the room.

"I gotta go, I'm sorry," she said, walking over to the closet to get her jacket.

"No…"

"Pheebs…?"

"Yeah," Phoebe said sadly as she hugged them both goodbye. "Mike said she's been screaming for an hour and now she's running a slight temperature - probably from all the screaming."

"She needs her mommy," Monica said, sympathetically, patting Phoebe on the back.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Phoebe said, giving Rachel an extra hug. "Can't wait!"

Rachel smiled at her then turned back toward the couch as Monica closed the door behind Phoebe.

"Do you need anything?" Monica asked before she sat back down.

"Water, maybe?"

Monica nodded and went to the kitchen. Rachel was finishing a big gulp of margarita when her friend sat down again.

"Mon?" she asked tentatively, absent-mindedly playing with the fibers in the fabric of the couch. "Were you nervous before you and Chandler got married?"

Monica shook her head.

"Not really," she said, picking up her margarita glass. "He was nervous enough for the both of us."

They smiled at each other.

"I mean I was worried that everything would go perfectly, which it didn't but, no, I wasn't nervous," Monica said, her eyes suddenly growing wide. "Are you nervous about tomorrow? About…Ross?"

"A little," Rachel said quietly, her voice cracking a bit. "I think so."

"Oh Rach," Monica said, putting down her drink and taking her hand. "Oh, no…why?"

"I don't know," Rachel said, looking at her sadly. "I'm not 'jumping out the window nervous' I'm just…it's Ross..."

"Yeah," Monica said slowly, trying to understand and not panic. "You two have been doing this dance for more than 12 years, you have two kids together! You can't seriously be thinking it's all…a…mistake now, can you?"

"No," she said quickly. "It's not a mistake. I…I made a choice to be with him and I…I want to. I really do."

Monica studied her best friend for a moment then briefly closed her eyes.

"You don't…regret your choice, do you?" She and Rachel had talked about it many times before - the opportunity she'd given up in Paris to stay with Ross and make their relationship work.

"No," Rachel said, after reflecting on the question for a minute. "I've thought about that and thought about…if…well, if that's what _this_ is. But, it's not. It's really not."

"What then?"

Rachel's eyes started to fill with tears and Monica put her arms around her, completely worried.

"Honestly, I don't think I've ever truly gotten over the first time we…broke up," she whispered in Monica's hair. Monica closed her eyes rocked her a little back and forth.

"I've forgiven him," Rachel said, pulling away and dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. "I mean, of course I've forgiven him. But…it hurt and I…I don't ever want to go through that again."

"Oh, honey, you won't," Monica said, running her hand down her arm. "It's all different now. That was so long ago…and you're both doing so, so well together this time..."

"I know," Rachel said, looking down and taking Monica's hand in hers. "I know."

She looked up at Monica and grinned, shaking her head just a bit.

"I bet Chandler has never even come close to doing anything like that, has he?"

Monica's breath caught.

"God, no," she said automatically, as if it was the most absurd thing in the world. "There's no way he would..."

The sad, yet accepting look in Rachel's eye made her pause for just a moment.

"Really, Rach, if he did ever...I don't know how I'd live through it."

Monica paused again, as if feeling for the first time what Rachel must have felt the night she and Ross broke up back then. They'd been so in love - a love like she'd never felt herself up to that point. She remembered that night so clearly, all of them trapped helplessly in her bedroom. She remembered Chandler placing a hand on her shoulder as they listened to the end of Ross and Rachel in the other room. She remembered leaning back into him, sure she would fall down if he wasn't standing behind her.

She glanced down at her new ring and shuddered. She was so much in love with Chandler... she didn't have any idea how she'd handle him sleeping with someone else. Even back when their love was brand new, she knew she'd never have survived it if he'd ever thrown everything they had away like her brother had.

And now, if he took his love away from her, from their family. God, her mind couldn't even comprehend it. She shivered and looked intently at a somewhat perplexed Rachel, who was looking at her curiously. Monica had been quiet a long time...

"You know what," she finally said, sincerity in her voice. "You are the strongest woman I know."

Rachel was taken aback.

"Yeah, right," she scoffed with a little laugh.

"I mean it," she said, quietly. "Chandler is my…refuge. He always has been, even before we were together."

It was Monica's turn to dab at the tears in her eyes and all Rachel could do was hold her hands and listen.

"He's always picked up the pieces when I fall apart and if he…if he was ever the one who broke me," Monica shook her head. "I really can't imagine what I'd do."

Rachel smiled sadly at her.

"I think I'd go out of my mind," Monica whispered, shaking her head again, just the thought of it threatening to make her lose it completely. Then she took a deep breath, pushing the ugly images away from her brain and focusing on the task at hand.

"Yeah," she said, stroking Rachel's hair. "Yeah, I think you're pretty strong. But, I also think my brother has changed a lot…"

"Oh, I know he has," Rachel nodded. "And I really don't worry about it happening again! It's just...it's in the back of my mind sometimes, ya know?"

"I can imagine it is," Monica said, squeezing her hands and searching her face. "But, you're gonna be OK, both of you. I just know it."

Rachel smiled at her.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling back at her. "I really do."

"OK," Rachel said, definitively after a moment. "OK, I'm sorry, you're right. I just let myself..."

"Feel the hurt," Monica said, finishing her thought. "And that's OK. Just…talk to him about it, OK?"

Rachel took a deep breath.

"I will," she smiled, then yawned. "I think I'm gonna head upstairs."

"OK," Monica said, pulling her in for a hug.

Rachel hugged her back tight.

"Love you," she said. "Thank you, Mon."

"Sure," she said. "Love you, too."

Rachel smiled at her one more time and then stood to go up the stairs. Monica watcher her disappear from view, then walked over to their wedding photo sitting in a frame on the fireplace mantle.

Monica traced her fingers over his figure in the picture.

"I love you," she whispered and smiled before gathering up the margarita glasses and taking them into the kitchen.

###

"It's not like you and Monica," Ross said again, finally admitting what he'd thought for a long time. "It's…harder than that."

For a moment Chandler just stared blankly at him, not exactly knowing what to say.

"What do you mean 'it's harder than that?'" he finally asked, now curiously wanting to know exactly what Ross thought was so easy about his relationship with Monica.

"It's just," Ross said, standing and starting to pace. "You know, you two, you just got together and stayed together. And that was it. Rachel and I have…never had it that easy…"

"Whoa," Chandler said, standing now, too. "Look, I'm willing to give you a pass here because it's the night before your wedding and…God knows I understand what it feels like to freak out the night before your wedding, but what exactly are you trying to say here?"

"I'm sorry," Ross said, shaking his head. "I don't know. I mean, you guys never had the fighting and the breaking up and the dating other people…"

"Marrying other people.." Chandler interjected, trying to lighten the mood a little. It didn't work.

"The, ya know…passionate - good or bad - relationship that Rachel and I have and sometimes…it just makes me worry…"

"Now wait a minute," Chandler said with a disbelieving chuckle, putting his hands on his hips. "It's not like Monica and I just one day up and decided 'gee, we should get together, huh?' You wanna talk about passion? Let's go back to London…"

"Let's not," Ross said, casting a warning glance in Chandler's direction. "I don't need to hear that story again."

"I think maybe you do…"

"Look, I'm sorry," Ross said, putting his hands up in a surrender gesture. "I'm just…I just wish I knew for a fact that _this_ time it is going to work. That _this_ time we're not gonna screw it up…"

"You mean _you're_ not gonna screw it up," Chandler shot back at him.

"We were on a br…"

"Oh, save it Ross!" Chandler interrupted, face squished up in disgust. He pointed his finger at him. "You screwed it up the first time. You'd been 'on a break' for what, two hours, when you went and…threw it all away. That was always on you, man."

"Don't hold back, dude," Ross said sarcastically, hands on his hips. "We had that big fight and I thought we were broken up…"

He stopped and waved a hand at Chandler.

"You know what? You wouldn't know," he continued, looking back at his friend. "You guys never came close to breaking up."

Chandler took a step back.

"Not true," Chandler said, shaking his head. "That's not true. Remember when you all found out about us and I freaked about marriage and babies and stuff? Remember that?"

"Yeah…" Ross said, tentatively.

"Monica and I didn't talk for an entire day and when we did she told me basically to 'grow up,'" Chandler said, remembering that day like it was yesterday. "I could have….well, maybe _I_ couldn't have…but I could have slept with the next…copy girl I saw, too. But I didn't. Instead, I _proposed_ to her, for crying out loud!"

Ross just looked at Chandler, slowly realizing that his brother-in-law might be on to something there.

He sat heavily back onto the couch and put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Chandler took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the charged energy in the room started to ebb a little.

He sat down next to Ross.

"I was so scared to lose Mon I made a complete ass out of myself to keep her," he said quietly, folding his hands between his knees and looking over at Ross. "Look, we're all different…people now than we were back then. You and Rachel have been together more than two years this time. You have a beautiful three year old daughter and a son who will be one next month. You haven't screwed it up since she got off the plane and you're not now."

Ross sighed and finally looked straight ahead.

"Sometimes I think…I wonder if she regrets giving up Paris for…me," he said in a low voice.

Chandler looked at him in surprise.

"She's never said that, but…" Ross shook his head. "I think…I think I've always been afraid she'll leave me and I…I gotta make the first move, ya know?"

Chandler thought about that a moment, and thought about how Ross and Rachel's relationship had always been more of a tug-of-war - who would fire the first shot - than a push together in the same direction.

And in that moment he was never more grateful that he and Monica's relationship was void of manufactured drama.

"We…we can't just be together because we have kids," Ross said, sighing. "I mean, to make it work it's gotta be right. Right?"

Chandler nodded, lost in his own thoughts. "Yeah, it's gotta be right."

Neither said a word for a few moments. Chandler glanced at Ross, his mind working hard, trying to figure out how to calm Ross down, just as Ross had calmed him down on his wedding day.

"How did you know it was right?" Ross said suddenly, now looking directly at Chandler. "It's not like you spent years building Monica up as 'the one', on some sort of pedestal, like I did with Rachel."

"Well, as you may recall I tried to bail on my wedding, so maybe…" Chandler joked weakly.

"That wasn't because of her, that was because of you," Ross said, then shook his head and added, "just like the copy girl."

"Yeah," Chandler said quietly, with a small smirk.

He wasn't sure he was happy with the direction this conversation was going. He couldn't believe after all these years Ross could still be having doubts about his relationship with Rachel. And after all these years Chandler couldn't recall the last time he doubted his relationship with Monica. And he really didn't want to…

"It's not like Mon and I haven't had times when…some times are more difficult…" he said, grasping a bit for words. "It's not easy - you know no relationship is, and now, ya know, with the twins they demand, like, every spare moment, which is how it should be, but…you guys are in the same place with Emma and Luke. It's just, it's hard, man."

Ross nodded and downed the rest of his beer.

"I know it's hard, I didn't mean to imply that your life was a bowl of cherries," Ross said, sighing and shaking his head. He smiled a little at Chandler. "I'm sorry, dude. I'm just freaking a little here - thinking of the past too much, probably. I know it's right, I know this is what I want and what…she wants. I am _not_ going to do anything dumb to ruin it. And she wouldn't be here if she didn't want to stay, right?"

Chandler nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Dude, forget it," Ross said, slapping Chandler on the knee, fearing he'd made him very uncomfortable. "I know you wanna get home. I'm fine. I'll be there tomorrow."

Ross grinned at him, but Chandler still didn't move from the couch. He was looking at the floor. It had been a long time since he thought about why Monica was "the one." He'd never really thought about it much, surprisingly. He just _knew_. But between the kids and work and their crazy schedules there were times it did feel like he and his wife were ships passing in the night. Yes, it had been a long time….

"She's my sanctuary," he said suddenly, quietly, lifting his eyes to Ross's. "She's…part of me. Like a, like a, I don't known…like breathing. I could no more be without her than I could be without oxygen. Maybe that's why it _looks_ easy. It's just…steady. We work hard, Ross, really hard. But I know if I lost her I'd lose everything - not just my house or my…my kids…I'd lose me. She's me and I'm her. That's…that's what it is…"

Ross just stared slack-jawed at Chandler with tears in his eyes.

"Listen," Chandler said after a moment, clearing his throat, but really feeling heartbroken for Ross. "If you don't feel like that about Rachel then, damn…no, it's not right. I can't believe it, but it's not… you need that, Ross. You both deserve it."

Ross shook his head.

"No, I understand," he said, still a bit in shock over Chandler's speech. "I do, I mean, I…I know what you're saying. We will make it. We will…we, maybe just need to talk about all this stuff."

"Yeah?" Chandler said, relieved. He grinned a little. "Well, yeah, talking would be a good place to start, ya know, between Baby Einstein videos."

"Yeah," Ross said, smiling at him. "Yes, it would. Hey, thank you."

"You're welcome."

"No," Ross said seriously, gripping his shoulder. "Thank you for loving my sister like you do. Honestly, Chandler, we…all of us want what you guys have."

"Ahhh…" Chandler smiled, genuinely touched.

He stood up and reached for his jacket. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yep, yeah," Ross hugged him, and watched as Chandler waved and walked out the door.

Ross shook his head, thinking that if he could bottle up what Chandler and Monica had and sell it he could make a fortune.

###

Monica was dressed in her robe, sipping on a mug of decaf tea at the kitchen table when she heard Chandler's SUV pull in the driveway a little after midnight.

She smiled when she heard his key in the lock.

"Hey," he said, smiling at her as he walked in the door. "What are you still doing up?"

"Waiting for you," she said, walking over to him and melting into his arms.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him, breathing in the hair piled up on her head. He'd never get enough of breathing her in.

"Joey called, right?"

"Yep," she said as she pulled off his jacket and hung it up for him on the hooks by the door to the garage. "Everyone's asleep. Rachel has Joey's room and Emma's with Jack and Erica. Phoebe left about an hour ago. Nadia's teething and she was running a little fever. Mike thought she might need her Mommy."

He chuckled and she grinned at him.

"We're all party animals now, aren't we?" he quipped and she giggled. "It was a good call to have Luke stay at your Mom and Dad's."

"Definitely," Monica said, then she bit her lip. "Rachel really needed to…talk tonight."

"So did Ross," Chandler said, taking a seat at the table as she brought over a mug of hot water and a tea bag. Instead of taking the tea, Chandler took her right hand and gently ran his fingers over the gems on her ring. She placed her hand over his and smiled.

"I still can't completely understand why they are so nervous," she said, shaking her head. "I mean you'd think by now they'd have it together, ya know? They wouldn't take what they have for granted."

"I know," he shook his head, still running his fingers over her ring. "But they've put each other through a lot of crap over the years."

"Yeah," she whispered, then she looked into his eyes - the safest place in her world. He grinned at her.

"I'm so…grateful we've never…hurt each other like that," she said, gripping his hand tighter, tears in her eyes.

He chuckled softly and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. Then he lifted her hands in his.

"We've had our moments," he whispered, holding her hands tucked his under his chin.

"Maybe so," she said, quietly, shaking her head, "but they never lasted. We've never…deliberately tried to…upset each other."

He kissed her fingers and closed his eyes.

"I wouldn't try to hurt you - ever," he whispered.

After a moment she ran her left hand along his cheek and cocked her head to the side, studying his face as a tear slipped down her cheek. He opened his eyes and wiped it away with his thumb.

"I know," she mouthed, then added in a whisper. "I can't stand to see you hurting, either, and I never want to be the one to make you…feel…sad."

They smiled into each other's eyes a while, failing to notice that Rachel was at the top of the staircase that led to the kitchen, leaning against the hallway wall. She thought she'd heard Chandler come home. She'd overheard most of the conversation and was somehow relieved that Ross had talked to Chandler.

She knew she wanted to marry Ross, of course, but she also knew they had a long way to go to arrive at the place where Monica and Chandler's love resided.

Oblivious to their eavesdropper, Monica took a deep breath and looked down at her "new" ring. It had been a gift from Chandler the week before, celebrating the 8th anniversary of "London Time."

They hadn't made a big deal out of it to anyone else. It was acknowledged just between them, as it had been all those years ago, but the ring itself held a special place in both their hearts.

"I still can't believe you kept it," she whispered, giving him a grin.

"See, Ross collects proposals," he said, with his lopsided grin, moving her hand and the ring into the light. "I collect engagement rings."

She smiled looking at the simple princess cut, now flanked by two green emeralds.

"It's the perfect Mother's Ring," she said, admiring it once again.

"I always thought of it as a promise ring," Chandler said, pulling her onto his lap.

She ran one hand through his hair as he placed their joined hands together on his chest.

"And you've kept every promise you've ever made to me," she said, softly.

She gave him a gentle kiss then gently pushed her forehead to his.

"I hope the newlyweds are half as happy as we are," she said.

"Me too, baby," he whispered.

At the top of the staircase Rachel smiled to herself._ Me, too,_ she thought as she quietly made her way back down the hall to the Bings' guest room on the night before her wedding.

_**NOTE: So…it seems I have posted a lot of sugary Mondler sweetness in the last month. I think it behooves you to be scared of what may come in the year ahead…LOL! Anyway, hope you enjoyed my first (long!) one-shot of 2015…I may or may not write a second chapter. I haven't decided. I kinda like it the way it is…**_


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